Ioan Gruffudd starred as Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic in 2005’s Fantastic Four and the 2007 sequel, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, and with the new Fantastic Four film recently hitting theaters, he’s reflecting on how there was supposed to be a third film in the early ’00s series and why it didn’t happen.

There’s still a sense of glee in Ioan Gruffudd’s voice when he discusses his time as the big screen’s original Mister Fantastic. That’s the exact type of energy he brought to his performance as genius scientist Reed Richards in 2005’s Fantastic Four.

"The mindset was that we were going to do three, and I think the second movie was equally successful as the first and equally enjoyable for the fans," Gruffud told Vulture